The best Chicago music of 2011

Caption1. Serengeti, 'Family and Friends' (Anticon)

Ultra-prolific South Side native David Cohn (Serengeti) is a modest MC. As he raps in "California," he's "one of 10 acts at a venue called hell." But there's nothing quite like this album in the hip-hop spectrum. Leaping from the abstract to the transparent in the space of a few words,...

Ultra-prolific South Side native David Cohn (Serengeti) is a modest MC. As he raps in "California," he's "one of 10 acts at a venue called hell." But there's nothing quite like this album in the hip-hop spectrum. Leaping from the abstract to the transparent in the space of a few words,...

Knocked out in two days after a series of live performances got the tracks in unruly shape, "Riot Now!" evokes the quartet's let-it-rip live performances during the '80s and early '90s. The core of Rick Rizzo, Janet Bean and Doug McCombs veers between extremes -- the haunted beauty of "That's...

Knocked out in two days after a series of live performances got the tracks in unruly shape, "Riot Now!" evokes the quartet's let-it-rip live performances during the '80s and early '90s. The core of Rick Rizzo, Janet Bean and Doug McCombs veers between extremes -- the haunted beauty of "That's...

Though the band name conjures violent death metal, the septet straddles heaviness and delicacy with layered guitars and shape-shifting arrangements. The triple-guitar attack is as much about texture as toughness, and Bruce Lamont (of the equally thrilling Yakuza) channels Tuvan throat singing...

Though the band name conjures violent death metal, the septet straddles heaviness and delicacy with layered guitars and shape-shifting arrangements. The triple-guitar attack is as much about texture as toughness, and Bruce Lamont (of the equally thrilling Yakuza) channels Tuvan throat singing...

One of the long-running associates of the revered underground label Molemen Records, Vakill takes his time between albums, which explains why he always delivers tight wordplay over sinister, no-nonsense beats. The title song, with its storming-the-gates horns, sets the tone for a collection...

One of the long-running associates of the revered underground label Molemen Records, Vakill takes his time between albums, which explains why he always delivers tight wordplay over sinister, no-nonsense beats. The title song, with its storming-the-gates horns, sets the tone for a collection...

This quartet builds an expressway to your skull in the grand tradition of Sonic Youth, Spiritualized and other guitar armies. On its first full-length album, Apteka luxuriates in the sound and physicality of humming amplifiers, but crucially, the band doesn't forget the songs.

This quartet builds an expressway to your skull in the grand tradition of Sonic Youth, Spiritualized and other guitar armies. On its first full-length album, Apteka luxuriates in the sound and physicality of humming amplifiers, but crucially, the band doesn't forget the songs.